Antifriction curtain hanger



Dec. 9, 1952 w. HACHTEL 2,520,507

ANTIFRICTION CURTAIN HANGER- Filed Oct. 14, 1949- Fig.1.

F l I u I ,E. A 1' J L L J & 1

INVENTQR;

Patented Dec. 9, 1952 ANTIFRICTION CURTAIN HANGER Wilhelm Hachtel, Wurttemberg, Germany, assignor to Rudolf Storzbach, Stuttgart, Germany Application October 14, 1949, Serial No. 121,281

The present invention relates to suspending means for curtains of the horizontally shiftable type and is particularly directed to suspending means of this kind consisting of pairs of rollers to which the curtain is secured with the aid of hook-like fastening means.

Known suspending means of. this type have the disadvantage that, when the curtain is pulled along on the rollers the fastening means are forced into strongly oblique position, whereby the curtain is frequently thrown off the hooks.

The aforesaid drawback is obviated by the present invention. According to the invention the hook-like fastening members are loosely and shiftably suspended from the axles of pairs of rollers by means of a long-hole-loop extending from the upper end of one of the shanks of the hook in obliquely ascending direction toward the vertical centre of the hook in such a way that between the upper end of the looped portion and the upper free end of the other shank of the hook a gap is created, which, when the fastening members are suspended from the axles is laterally closed up by the side-walls of the pairs of rollers.

For fastening the curtain to the fastening member, the latter is held between two fingers, whereupon the" appertaining roller automatically slips down in the long-hole-loop, so that the gap between the upper end of the loop and the free end of the hook is laid bare for the curtain tobe fastened thereto. After the fastening to the hooks has taken place, the suspending members, i. e. the rollers and fastening members suspended therefrom, are pushed into the guide passage of the guiding and operating means. When this is being done the fastening members or hooks will automatically slip down in the long-hole-loop, so that the gap between the free end of the hook and the long-hole-loop is laterally closed up again by the side-walls of the rollers, whereby unintended slipping of the curtain from the hooks is made impossible.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this invention, with the understanding however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, but may be changed or modified, so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed-in the appended claims.

In the drawings, in which similar characters 5 Claims. (Cl. Iii-87.6)

of reference indicate corresponding parts in all of the several figures,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the suspending means, with one of the rollers removed for clearness of illustration; I

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the suspending means;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the suspending means with the fastening member shifted into fastening position; Fig, 4 shows, partly in section, a pair of rollers provided with an inwardly curved axle embraced by a fastening wire or semi-rounded cross-section;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the suspending means provided with a fastening wire of partly flattened formation;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the construction of Fig. 5 with one of the rollers removed;

Figs. 7 to 9 are cross-sections through pairs of rollers provided with different types of axles.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the reference character 2 denotes the guiding means provided in known manner with the guide passage u in which the pairs of rollers b are guided. The rollers 12 are supported in the guide passage 11. by means of the inwardly projecting supporting members 2', serving as a runway for the rollers b. The pairs of rollers are held together and spaced apart with the aid of the axle c. Secured to the axles c of the rollers b are the fastening members a, which are equipped with a looped portion e by means of which they are loosely and shifta'bly suspended from the axles 0, so that the easy rotation of the rollers in the looped portion is not interfered with. The fastening members a are of hook-like or U-shaped formation and are suspended from the axles c in such a way that they project from the guide passage 11. through the slot is between the supporting members 22. According to the invention the looped portion e of the U-shaped fastening members it extends from one of the upper ends of the shankportions 0 in obliquely ascending direction .towards the vertical centr of the fastening members. The looped portion consists of the bent portions d and positioned approximately parallel to each other and forming between them the long-hole-loop, e. The free endh of the other shank portion 0 forms the hook by means of which the curtain is hooked to the fastening members a; Between the end It and the bent portion 1 of the loopedportion e is the. gap 9 which, when the fastening member a is in the position illustrated in Fig. l is laterally closed up rolling along on the supporting members i, the" fastening members a automatically slip back in the oblique long-hole e into the position illus-'" trated in Fig. l, in which the gaps g are again laterally closed up by the side-walls of the rollers b.

The straight-lined shank portions are so po sitioned that they extend in vertical direction=and act as shock absorbers when during the operation of the suspending mechanism some oft-he suspending members are forced into contact with one another. Moreover; the? rollers? b are? of somewhat smaller size and diameter than the distance between the shock absorbing outer surfaces of'the shank portionso, so that, when the suspending members are pulled against one another; no jumping of one roller over another roller can take place.

The fastening members amay' consist'of' wire having either a rectangular or asemi-rounded cross-section. In case the fastening members a are madeof wire having a rectangular crosssection', the rollers I) should be provided with axles of cylindrical shape; See Figs. 2, '7, and 9. On the other hand, if the fastening members consist of wire having a semi-rounded cross-section, the fastening members have to be bent in such a way that the rounded portion of their surface is on. the inside, while the fiat portion of their'surface is onlthe outside of the loop e. In thelatter: case the rollers have'to be provided with axles c of inwardly curved formation, as indicatedin Figs. 4 and 8; The fastening members a'are-so'devised, with respect'to the distribution of their weight. that the shock absorbing portions 0. are extending, in vertical direction when the fastening members aresuspended from theax-les c.

The; curtain may be secured to' the fastening members either directly or with the aid of: detachable intermediate fastening means.

According,- to the form of construction illustrated in Figs. and 6, the bent portions d and I have been flattened. The consequence is that the axles are shorter andlthe' rollers wider, while the total width of the pairs of rollers including the" axles remains the same. This has the advantage that the weight of therollers" and the efliciency of operationv of. the: device. have been increased".

It is further'possiblef to manufacture the fastening members a' and their long-hole-loops e through punching fromtsheet-metal or any other suitable material;

The same applies to the rollers, which like- Wise may be produced from sheet-metal.- According to Fig. '7 the axles consist 'of two halves p pressed integral with the rollers from sheetmetal and thereupon fastened together through welding or riveting; According to FigLS, portions of sheet-metal q' and 1' have been forced outof the material of the rollers and then slipped onto each other and united through pressing. In the modification illustrated in Fig. 9 the axle s, forced out of the-material of one of the rollers, has been provided with an extension t, which 4 then is inserted into a hole of the other roller and secured to the latter through pressing.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a suspending device for a curtain of the horizontally shiftable type, the combination of a pair of rollers secured together by means of an axle, and a hook-like fasteningv member adapted to extend substantiallyiin the plane of the curtain and having" one of" it's ends extending in obliquely ascending direction toward the vertical line of symmetry of said fastening member and bent in suchi a way that an elongated closed loop- V shaped portion is created in the same plane by 3 means of which said fastening member is loosely andslidingly: but undetachably suspended from said axle and manually shiftable from a lower operativeposition to an upper inoperative position', said fastening member being shaped in such a way that between said elongated closed lo'op shaped portion of said" fastening member and; the other end of its hook-like body a gap is formed which; when said fastening member is suspended from said axle" in said lower operative position, is laterally closed u'p by theinner lateral faces of said pair of rollers while being acces sible in said upper inoperative position.

I 2'. A suspending device-forcurtainsas specified by claim" 1", in" which saidelongated; closed loop-portion is shaped in such a way that the longer-sides of said l'oop shaped portion extend in" substantially parallel" direction to each other and thus form a: guide 'way' in which said axle is slidingly, shiftably" and rotatably positioned;

3; A" suspending device for curtains as specified byclaim' l; inwhich-said axle is of inwardly curved surfaceformatio'n, and in which saidfastening member consists of wire having a semirounded cro'ss se'ction and' b'entin such a way that the rounded" portion of. its surface engages the curved surface' portion of said axle so as tov be guided therein; while the flat surface portion on the opposite side of the wire acts as shock. absorbin'g surface.

41 In a suspendin c'evice for acurtaih of the horizontally shiftable type, the combinationof a pair of rollers secured together by means of an axle; and a hook -like fastening. member adapted to extend substantially in the plane of the curtain and having one of its. endsextending. in an obliquely ascending direction towards. the vertical. lirieofsymmetry of said fastening member and. bent in such away that an elongated closedloop-shaped'portionis-formed in the same plane by means ofwhich said fastening member iszslidably, but undetachably suspendedfronr said axle and manually shiftable from a lower. operative: position to arr-upper inoperative position; said fastening, member being shaped: in such manner thatbetween said elongated. closedloopshaped portion of said fastening member. and the other: end of. its: hook-like body a: gap is formed whiehis laterally closed up by the-inner lateral faces of. saidpair of rollers in said lower operative position, while being. accessible. in said upper inoperative position, the portion of said fastening member placed between said rollers being flattened and of reduced thickness corhparing to the thickness" of the portion of said fast'en'ing member projecting from said rollers, and

6 fied by claim 1 including the feature that said UNITED STATES PATENTS rollers and said axles are made of pressed sheet- Number Name Date metal.

WILHELM HACHTEL- 581,621 Schenker Apr. 27, 1897 5 FOREIGN PATENTS REFERENCES CITED Number Country Date The following references are of record in the 108,547 Australia Sept. 13, 1939 file of this patent: 882,864 France June 17, 1943 

